


Stow Away

by Lyxan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blue Paladin Allura, F/M, Fluff, Good Guy Zarkon, I suck at tags, Just some fluff and situation build, This was going to be a short but I may add more, art included, black paladin zarkon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23485363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyxan/pseuds/Lyxan
Summary: Something is hiding away on the blue lion after a trip to one of the newer coalition planets. The blue paladin Allura finds herself face to face with Lt. Takashi Shirogane, a dying human who only wants to see the stars one last time.
Relationships: Allura/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Stow Away

The portal behind them had already fallen away when Blue gave off the heavy feeling that sent Allura’s blood cold, her back straightened unconsciously as she tried not to glance to the rear of the mighty ship.

Though Blue never used words, the message was loud and clear, ‘Someone’s Aboard.’

Why she hadn’t been informed of this before they did a teluduv jump hundreds and thousands of light years from the planet they were just at was a discussion for a later time. For now, a shaky hand hovered over the buttons to her coms, calculating her next move.

Blue was being gentle, urging Allura not to alert the others, that something was wrong, but not dangerous.

Allura shook her head, saying nothing, her fingers pressing forward.

Zarkon’s face appeared on the screen a mere tick after she removed her hand.

“Allura.” More of a confirmation than a greeting.

“Lord Zarkon – I think I’ll take blue a few laps before I return to the castle.” She cleared her throat, in an attempt to hide any uneasiness the black paladin could pick up on.

He nodded stiffly.

“Understood. I will inform your father.”

Allura smiled, hopefully convincingly as she started to break formation.

“We’re still sparring later, right?” The red paladin, Keith, interjected. His screen appeared next to Zarkon’s, he was frowning heavily. Allura studied his face for a moment – He matched the aliens of the last planet they were on so perfectly, almost no trace of his galra heritage.

“Of course.” She nodded. “Just taking a little detour is all.”

“Wanna race?”

Allura opened her mouth to respond, but Zarkon started before her.

“We all know the red lion can outmaneuver the blue. Allura you can do as you please, Yorak, you are with me.” He glanced at Allura pointedly before ending his side of the communication. “Ugh. It’s KEITH” Keith hissed, before also ending the call. The cockpit dimmed.

Allura let out a breath she was unaware she was holding and slumped in her chair.

Blue gave another sinking feeling of something on the ship and reluctantly she got to her feet. Most likely it would be just a creature, an animal, something that snuck aboard while she was landed. Not that bringing alien life into coalition space was not a hassle of paperwork, but it was the best-case scenario.

The cargo area was dimly lit, but on her approach, Blue brightened the best it could.

“Hello?” She asked the seemingly empty bay, her eyes scanning to any dark corners. “Is anyone here?”

“Don’t shoot. I’m coming out.” A voice responded and slowly two hands raised from the back behind a crate.

Allura’s hand went to her bayard as she waited for the stranger to dislodge himself from the cargo. They were definitely human – like Alteans but with the tell tale round ears and lack of markings that Keith shared. She dared not blink, taking stock of their tall and lean form, like they were built for combat.

She noticed the subtle shake of the limbs, as if the weight wasn’t supported. They wore the military uniform of the human’s planet, chest decorated with a few badges.

She locked eyes on the human to find sad and weary grey eyes staring back, eyebrows raised in concern.

“I’m Lt. Takashi Shirogane.”

She kept her hand near her bayard but relaxed her stance.

“And what are you doing here Lt. Takashi Shirogane?”

“I – uh –“ He glanced around and swallowed heavily. “I really just wanted to see the stars one last time.”

“The stars?” He nodded in response and for a brief moment she thought how handsome he was. She quickly tucked that thought away. He was an intruder on her lion! He had broken so many intergalactic laws for the both of them. She chewed her bottom lip for a moment and watched as his arms shook softly, as if straining.

“Can I – uh – put my arms down?” He sheepishly asked.

She gave a sharp nod and he dropped his arms and huffed out, fiddling with an adornment on his wrist. He looked exhausted but as if he was trying to save face. How would she break this to Zarkon? To her Father? To his home planet? She blew a stray strand of hair away from her face.

Whatever his reasons were, he was here now, and all he wanted was to see the stars, something in Allura twisted, a sharp sting that set a ton of octialen tangling in her stomach.

Allura turned to the cockpit.

“Blue?” She questioned aloud, and the lion responded to her thoughts. The front viewport widened and dropped all the system statuses to get an unobstructed view. Allura coyly looked over her shoulder towards her uninvited guest. “Well?”

Takashi Shirogane followed her, and she heard his breath catch as he got close to the helm.

Before them lay the expanse of the Tridas nebula, a swirling mass of purples, blues, and reds with over a hundred star clusters within. Something deep within sparkled brightly before fading back and her companion stepped a bit closer.

“It’s beautiful.” He spoke in a whisper, as if he dared not wake a slumbering infant.

She turned to watch him, his grey eyes catching the passing lights and shimmering, a smile plastered on his face. When his arm started to twitch again he winced heavily and without ever looking away from the expanse in front of them, he fiddled with his wrist. The thick grey adornment there made a soft beep and a hiss. After several doboshes, the shaking in his arm stopped and he turned towards her.

“Thank you, for this.” His head looked back to the stars once more. “It’s incredible.”

Allura nodded in agreement and crossed her arms over her chest.

“So what happens now?” He asked. “Airlock? Some sort of coalition punishment?”

Allura pressed her lips as she thought, ultimately, she would take a hit for not noticing him aboard. Her resonance with the lion may even be in question as Blue never informed her.

“If I get returned back to Earth I’ll be court marshalled and jailed.” He shrugged, and noticing her inner turmoil he turned back to the stars. “I’m dying anyway, Miss Paladin. I’m not afraid.”

That caused her to pause. “What?” Allura’s face scrunched and her uninvited guest just sighed. He wasn’t going to answer. A dying man’s wish to see the stars, he risked everything, knowing full well the punishment just for this moment. She turned back to the stars and gave a half smile, it was quite a sight.

“Well, better hold on, Lieutenant.” She moved into the chair and Shiro stepped to the side, staring down at her.

The controls lit up as Allura took over, pushing blue forward. Her guest wobbled and quickly grabbed at her chair as the blue lion flew around. She pulled a few sharp circles and twists, zipping around carefree, trying to show off.

“Nice moves, Paladin.” He complemented, grinning from ear to ear as they continued to fly around.

“Allura.” She smiled back and he repeated it.

She pulled off another tight loop.

“You can call me Shiro, all my friends do.”

She coyly smiled as she dodged around some debris. "We're friends now?"

"You're taking me on an adventure, are you not? That's pretty friendly."

She hummed in response and steered blue towards a group of asteroids. They swerved around with great ease, but for his part, Shiro looked enthralled in the display. A wide grin on his face as his wide eyes darted from obstacle to obstacle, while Allura barely had to tell blue the path to take through the mess.

“How fast can she go?” It sounded like a challenge.

Allura scoffed. “Hold on, space boy.”

He started to laugh but it got caught in his throat when Allura pushed both throttles forward, making him jerk and clutch at her seat to keep upright. Blue took off, pushing herself a bit harder than normal to let the lights of the systems zip past. Shiro breathed deeply, and never took his eyes from the screen.

After racing around for what felt like vargas, blue slowed, letting herself drift aimlessly and Allura looked up to her passenger.  
"Having fun?"

"Allura, this is… amazing." Shiro finally looked away from the stars. "I don't know how to repay you for this. I don't think I really can."

Allura looked into his eyes, a warm dark grey with a hint of sadness in them.

"Live, Shiro." She smiled and he huffed. "You can pay me back by living."

"Not really my call." Shrugging he looked back to the stars.

"Then let's make it your call. How are you dying?"

"Aside from whatever laws I broke doing all this?" He gave a dry laugh. "I have a genetic disease that affects my muscl-"

The screen flashed an incoming communication, interrupting Shiro's words.

“Quiznack” Allura hissed. “Get down.”

As he protested, Allura shoved Shiro down towards the floor. She fluffed her hair, sucked in a breath and opened the coms.

“Allura.” Again, Zarkon spared no pleasantries.

“Lord Zarkon.” The Princess grinned hoping to cover her worry and mask the alien hidden just out of the screen’s view.

“Are you going to continue to do laps or are you bringing our guest back to the Castle.” Zarkon inquired, his face held no emotion and Allura froze. He knew. How could he know? Did she give it away with her body language? Were her coms open this whole time? She glanced down to where Shiro huddled on the floor, looking up at her with wide eyes.

She must have been silent for far too long as Zarkon continued to speak again.

“Hurry back, Princess.” She heard the humor in his voice and for a second, questioned herself for her panic.

“I – Uh – “ The words started to tumble out.

“I have decided our guest’s penalty.”

And with that the communication cut, Allura whipped her head down to look at Shiro.

“Is that bad?” He asked dumbly.

“Bad? That was Lord Zarkon – of Dibazall.”

“The Black Paladin?” She nodded in response. “Shit.”

She chewed on her lip, “We don’t have a lot of options. We have to go to the castle.”

He ran a hand down his face.

“Well, for what it’s worth. Thank you. I’ll tell them I held you hostage or something.”

That made her laugh a little.

“Earth Man, you could NOT hold me hostage.”

“I could try!”

He chuckled and she shook her head turning blue in the direction of the castle ship and Shiro stood to watch the approach.

"This won't take long. You said something about your muscles?" Allura took a very pointed look at Shiro's toned torso.

"Ah, yeah. My disease, it uh, it tightens them. They break down quickly over time. Stress and other factors make this process faster and one day - soon - they'll just. Stop." He shrunk under her gaze.

"And that's incurable?"

"Yep."

"How much longer?"

"A couple years maybe? Months?" He shook his head.

"I have no idea what that means." She teased but then pointed out the view screen. "There. That's the castle."

The beautiful white ship floated in the distance, emanating a soft blue light. It was huge, larger than any of Earth's ships, and the closer they got the more it's size consumed the whole screen. Though panic filled Allura's gut, the warm embrace of home stopped her hands from shaking.

“Mmmm – You could toss me out the airlock now.”

“Not going to happen, Shiro.”

“You could say it was an accident.”

“Listen, Zarkon somehow knows you’re here. So like it or not we’re both going. Alive”

Blue rumbled soft encouragement through her as it didn’t take long to get towards the hangar. Shiro stood by her side. There was a crowd already forming through the doors of the hangar as blue set down. Allura let out a breath she wasn’t sure she was holding.

"Allura." He softly mumbled but she pressed on.

A medical team stood nearby, along with Zarkon in his full Paladin regalia. Allura quickly scanned the crowd but there was no sign of her father or his adviser Coran.

“I am so fucked.” Shiro whispered as more people poured in from the far doors.

Allura stood up quickly.

“Okay. Stay here.” She hissed more out of urgency than unkindness and Shiro nodded giving her a hopeful smile. She had only been on earth for all of half a Quintant. The coalition showing off their mighty lion ships to another new planet that had barely left their solar system. A bit of glad handing, a bit of showing off, nothing any of the paladins hadn't done before. Be both an inspiration and a warning.

Earth had been no different, she stood tall while planet leaders spoke highly of their new position in this alliance. Showed off blue to far too many people in uniforms similar to Shiro’s. And drink weird fizzy drinks as someone far too full of themselves loudly praises their own accomplishments.

Yet here was Shiro, apparently dying and willing to risk everything in an elaborate suicide for once last chance to see the stars. She may have only known him for a few vargas, but something in her felt a pang. He was honest, that much she knew for sure, and she was determined to protect him from Zarkon's wrath. And maybe, just maybe, save him.

Blue lowered her maw and opened to allow Allura to exit. Allura stood among the crowd, her arms outstretched.

"No one is to see him!" She commended, but it did nothing to quell the curiosity of the onlookers desperately trying to look past her. "The human is currently under my protection. I will NOT let anyone harm a single hair on his head."

"Princess Allura." A voice seemed to boom over the crowd without yelling and people instantly parted to allow it's owner passage.

Allura kept her head high and her gaze steady as the head of Voltron and Emperor of Dibazall, Lord Zarkon, marched towards her.

"Zarkon." She replied, not backing down. “Whatever the punishment, I under-”

"Where is he?" Zarkon cut her off.

"Inside. How did you know he was on my ship?" Her tone was a bit sharp.

Zarkon straightened up and pushed past her into the lion’s mouth. Allura dropped her arms and turned to match Zarkon’s speed. The great lion’s mouth slowly closed to block off anyone else from entering and allowed the two paladins to stand in silence only illuminated by the floor lights. Zarkon let out a heavy sigh, looking forward in the direction of the cockpit.

"Princess, do you honestly believe the lions don't communicate with each other?" Allura glanced to the side for a moment and bit her lip while Zarkon continued.

"Blue alerted Black, and he..." Zarkon's head turned away and he muttered something. Allura raised her eyebrows, imploring him to repeat himself. Zarkon coughed into his hand before again muttering "he smells like a friend."

Allura blinked slowly “You don’t understand, Shiro’s unhealthy and I won’t al-”

“I know Allura. Black can feel him.”

“I-” She stopped, she could feel Blue - she had for a long time, but a lion feeling someone that was not her paladin? Impossible. Or apparently not.

“Blaytz retired, Alfor retired, Gyrgan, Trigel and I can only keep up with you and Yorak for so long. If Black can feel him, then perhaps it is time.”

“You think Shiro can replace you?” Allura filled in. Zarkon remained silent but continued forward with Allura on his heels. The truth hung in the air, no one could be a paladin forever, and no one could live forever. But where did that leave Shiro?

He was leaning against the console when the two paladins entered and quickly moved to stand tall with his hands behind his back, something that seemed to be a standard human position. She gave him a smile while Zarkon crossed his arms and looked down from his full height.

“You. Name.” He almost sounded angry.

“Lt. Takashi Shirogane, from Earth, sir.”

Zarkon’s eyes narrowed as he looked the human up and down slowly.

“You have broken at least 3 coalition laws.”

“I understand sir and I am prepared to take full-”

“I did NOT finish.” Zarkon barked, making both Shiro and Allura flinch. “You have put the lives of this station and a paladin at risk with your hasty actions.”

Allura moved to stand beside Shiro, glaring at the black Paladin. Shiro's eyes tracked her movements but he stayed still.

“I am equally as guilty, Zarkon.” Allura crossed her arms to match Zarkon. “You know this.”

Zarkon’s lips curved into a smile, watching the pair. Allura glanced at Shiro whose arms trembled slightly either from his illness or uncertainty.

“How am I going to explain this to your father, princess?” He turned to exit the cockpit and spoke quickly over his shoulder. “I’ll send the med team in.”

Shiro fell back to lean on the console again with a huff of air leaving his lungs in one huge rush.

“Wow. He’s terrifying.”

“Mmm, wait till you meet my father.” Allura smirked, not taking her eyes off the door and listening to the mingle of voices as the medical team started their ascent into the lion.

***

Allura frowned into the healing pod, behind her Coran pretended to make himself busy but she could feel his eyes on her back.

“I told them not to harm a single hair on his head.” She left out an annoyed sigh.

“Color change is not really ‘harm’, Princess.” Coran replied.

“The whole front is white!” she proclaimed in mock outrage.

“A fetching color.”

“I guess it's a small fee for health.” She smiled and let the room fall silent, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest. Coran tapped around behind her, before finally breaking the silence.

“Just a few more ticks and he’ll be ready.”

She nodded and kept her eyes on his restful form, the pound of Zarkon’s boots on the tile didn’t take her eyes away until he reached her side.

“I have quite the drills ready for you two trouble makers.”

“At least let him put on clothes, Zarkon.

“By the way you’re hovering I thought you'd prefer him in that.” Zarkon snorted, Allura yelped as she turned bright red, turning to playfully push at the unmoving wall that was the black Paladin. Coran let out a jovial laugh in the background watching the two playfully tussle. All three missed the hiss of the healing pod as it opened.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been hacking at this sentence by sentence since like December. I finally just sat down to vomit it out. I might add more. I drew the art to help me try to figure out where to go with the story. I donno. Enjoy.


End file.
